Bioactivity evaluation and phytochemical screening of Euphorbia helioscopia and Rumex dentatus

Abstract

Euphorbia helioscopia and Rumex dentatus are two essential medicinal plants that are widely used in traditional medicines against various illnesses. The present research was focused to confirm and validate the antibacterial, antifungal and antitumor activities of both plants. The antimicrobial activities were investigated against different bacterial and fungal strains. The in vitro antioxidant activities were confirmed against DPPH, hydroxyl and superoxide free radicals using ascorbic acid (Vc) as a standard. The results indicated that the increase in percentage scavenging activity is due to the increase in concentration of both plant extracts from 50-500 µg/mL. Moreover, the percentage tumor inhibition of both plant extracts was confirmed by potato disc method using dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) as a negative control. The higher percentage of tumor inhibition was observed for water and ethanolic extract in case of E. helioscopia and R. dentatus, respectively.